SAN JOSE — A mother and her son have been charged with using “skimming” devices to steal credit card information from scores of San Francisco Bay area gas stations.

Fifty-three-year-old Petra Vaca of Ontario and her 33-year-old son Luis Gomez of Yucaipa were charged Friday with felony identity theft in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Prosecutors say they installed skimming devices at fewer than 100 gas pumps in San Jose, San Francisco, Los Altos, Fremont and Redwood City. After gaining access to customers’ credit and debit card information, officials say over a two-year period they illegally purchased more than $500,000 worth of merchandise, mainly Apple computers.

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